Josh and Julie Niland Are Expanding Fish Butchery with a Huge New Waterloo Outpost

Update Tuesday, February 1: Josh and Julie Niland's Fish Butchery Waterloo is opening on Thursday, February 3. The venue will offer raw and dry-aged fish as part of its retail offering and a takeaway menu featuring yellowfin tuna belly pastrami sandwiches, murry cod souvlaki, tuna pie packs and smoked scallop banh mi. It'll be open 10am–7pm Wednesday–Saturday, 10am–6pm on Sundays.

Three years after opening Fish Butchery in Paddington — and just a few months after launching new sustainable fish and chip shop Charcoal Fish in Rose Bay — Josh and Julie Niland are giving Sydneysiders another spot to pick up top-notch seafood. The pair has just signed the lease on a space at 965 Bourke Street, Waterloo, which is set to become home to Fish Butchery's second venue.

Come mid-January, Fish Butchery Waterloo will be following in its sibling's footsteps. It'll also mark the Nilands' fourth venue overall, including their original venture Saint Peter. And, the Bourke Street spot will give acclaimed seafood chef Josh plenty of room to work with — 270 square metres, which is more than twice the size of Fish Butchery Paddington.

The same no-waste approach to all things fish will obviously make the leap to the new venue, with the store's range set to span fresh seafood, fish charcuterie and frozen produce. After running Mr Niland at Home during lockdown, ready-to-cook fish pies, albacore lasagnes, yellowfin tuna koftas and yellowfin tuna burger patties will also be available.

Fish Butchery Waterloo will serve up Australian oysters shucked to order at a central island counter, too, and fill its hot pie cabinet with grab-and-go swordfish bacon quiche lorraine, yellowfin tuna meat pies and Murray cod sausage rolls.

And, among the takeaway and dine-in options, there'll be everything from swordfish tacos al pastor, tuna chorizo sandwiches and king prawn hot dogs to the Fish Butchery ploughman's lunch, double tuna cheeseburgers and a hot smoked kingfish reuben sandwich.

With such a hefty site to play with, the couple will also use the extra space for Josh's development work — to come up with even more must-try fish dishes — as well as for training and fish storage.

"We want to create a space where we can make greater use of the opportunities within each fish. By centralising our fish purchasing, storage and preparation to one location, we will be able to ensure that every part of the fish is utilised across our venues to its maximum potential," the couple said in a statement.

"Custom-built dry ageing cool rooms will condition fish for Saint Peter, Charcoal Fish, Fish Butchery Paddington and Fish Butchery Waterloo and two large marble workbenches in the centre of the room will provide a work area for our fish butchers — bringing visibility and theatre to the often behind the scenes processes of Fish Butchery," they continued.

Fish Butchery Waterloo will open at 965 Bourke Street, Waterloo, sometime in mid-January — with an exact launch date yet to be revealed. We'll update you with further details when they're announced.

Images: Fish Butchery Paddington.